Airport – Hotel transfer by private minivan

We will visit Istanbul Old City, Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sophia Museum, Sultan Ahmet Mosque and afternoon we will sail for Bosphorus tour by public boat. After end of our trip we will check out from hotel and transfer to airport to trip to Cappadocia by plane. After we arrive at Cappadocia we will check in to hotel and take a break for rest.

Hippodrome of Constantinople (Sultan Ahmet Square)
The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social center of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultan Ahmet Square with a few fragments of the original structure surviving.

Sultan Ahmet Mosque (The Blue Mosque)
The Sultan Ahmet Mosque is a historic mosque in Istanbul. The mosque is popularly known as The Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior. It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Sultan Ahmed I.

Hagia Sophia Museum (Ayasofya)
Hagia Sophia is a former Greek Orthodox Church, later an imperial mosque and now a museum in Istanbul, from the date of its construction in 537 until 1453; it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931.

Topkapı Palace is a large palace in Istanbul that was the primary residence of the Ottoman sultans for approximately 400 years (1465–1856) of their 624-year reign. It is now a museum and as such a major tourist attraction. It also contains important holy relics of the Muslim world, including Prophet Muhammad’s cloak and sword. The palace contained mosques, a hospital, and bakeries.

The Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan)
One of the magnificent ancient buildings of Istanbul is the Basilica Cistern located in the southwest of Hagia Sofia. Constructed for Justinianus I, the Byzantium Emperor (527-565).

Start the morning with a visit to Esentepe Panoramic view point; enjoy the picturesque landscape stretching in front of you while your guide will give you your first briefing on Cappadocia.

Kaymakli Underground City
Continue on to the Kaymakli Underground City one of the many such settlements which early Christians used as shelters to hide from their enemies. After this unique Underground adventure we will stop by Uchisar Castle a natural Rock Hill which was used as a fortress during the Roman periods. In and around the Hill are Cave and Pigeon Houses carved in the Rock which gives it a very unique look. Uchisar Castle is also an important sight in terms of it being the highest point in Cappadocia.

Goreme Open Air Museum, Pigeon Valley and Avanos
Next we will stop at Pigeon Valley view point to enable you to take some great photographs before continuing to Goreme Open Air Museum. Goreme Open Air Museum was once the Monastery settlement of the first Christians in Cappadocia, here Christianity blossomed and some of the Cave Churches which are displaying awesome Frescos can be seen here along with the living quarters with kitchens and dining rooms. Lunch will be served in an authentic Cave Restaurant in Avanos. Avanos is a Pottery Village where since the Hittite periods (2000BC) locals still use this tradition of their Ancestors.

Fairy Chimneys Cappadocia
Start your day visiting the Fairy Chimneys in Ürgüp. Meet the most famous family of fairy chimneys: mother, father and daughter! These are the official symbol of both Ürgüp and Cappadocia. Proceed down south to the Keshlik Monastery. This monastery complex, situated in a paradise-like green valley, contains the Church of the Archangel, the Chapel of Saint Stephen, a huge dining area, living quarters, a pool of sacred water as well as a refractory. Carry on with Sobessos a newly discovered archaeological site, with excavations still underway. This once was a wealthy Roman-Byzantine city. No site as big as this ancient site has ever been found in this region before. The remains of a church, tombs, a bath and Roman mosaics have already been uncovered. Continue to Shahin Efendi which is an authentic Central Anatolian village at the foot of a table mountain where you can see villagers carrying out their daily chores around their homes and in their fields. The Church of the Forty Martyrs, situated in a rock pinnacle, is interesting to visit, and this once again links this region to its Byzantine past.

Soganli Valley and Mustafapasha Village
Next stop will be Soganli Valley Once again, people have built homes in the rock cones. Today, the visitor can enter 10 different churches with reasonably well preserved wall paintings dating from the 10th to the 13th centuries. The locally made doll is the emblem of the village. Lunch will be served in this local village as well. Proceed to Tashkinpasha. The Medrese building and the nearby mosque and tombs are some of the best examples of Seljuk architecture in this district. The village houses follow the traditional plan with stables on the ground floor to keep the upper rooms warm. On your return way you will have another stop at Mustafapasha Village. This town remained predominantly Christian throughout the Seljuk and early Ottoman periods, although the Muslim population increased from then on. Some splendid old stone Greek houses rich in decoratively carved symbols are not to be missed. It’s still possible to walk into some buildings which have the original paintings on the walls, and the town is home to the remains of the largest concentration of modern churches in the region.

We will check out from hotel and transfer to airport to trip to Istanbul by plane. After we arrive at Istanbul, we will check in to hotel and we will take a break for rest. Guests are free to do whatever they wish to do or where ever they want to go by themselves. Vehicle and guide not in order. If guest want to use vehicle or guide, they should pay extra for these services

• Chora Museum.
• Panorama 1453 Museum (The Conquest of Constantinople).
• Wall of Constantinople (Byzantine City Walls).
• Miniatürk (Small Miniatures of Landmarks of Turkey and the World).
• Eyüp Sultan Mosque and Pierre Loti Hill.
Chora Museum
The Chora Church, or Kariye Museum in Turkish, has one of the best examples of Byzantine mosaic art. The museum today is located at Kariye neighborhood near Edirnekapı city walls over the Golden Horn. Originally a Christian church, it was converted into a mosque after the Conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans, and after the Republic it became a museum.

Panorama 1453 Historical Museum
The museum is a panorama painting about the conquest of Constantinople. Here the visitor will witness a scene of the Fall of Constantinople, in particularly the moment the Ottoman troops broke the Byzantine defenses of the city. After the fall, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II, gained the title of ‘Fatih’ (The Conqueror).

Miniatürk
Miniatürk is a miniature park situated at the north-eastern shore of Golden Horn. It is one of the world’s largest miniature parks with its 15,000 m2 model area. The park contains 122 models done in 1/25th scale. 58 of the structures are from Istanbul, 52 are from Anatolia, and 12 are from the Ottoman territories that today lie outside of Turkey.

Eyüp Sultan Mosque
Eyüp Sultan Mosque is situated in the district of Eyüp outside the Walls of Constantinople. Built in 1458, it was the first mosque constructed by the Ottoman Turks following the Conquest of Constantinople in 1453.

• Dolmabahçe Palace.
• Istanbul Naval Museum.
• Ortakoy Mosque.
• Rumelian Castle.
• Emirgan Park.
Dolmabahçe Palace
Dolmabahçe Palace is located in the Beşiktaş district on the European coastline of the Bosphorus strait, served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1922.

Istanbul Naval Museum
The Naval Museum is one of the most eminent naval museums in Turkey. In terms of the richness of its collections, it is one of the preeminent museums in the World. The collection of the museum consists of approximately 20.000 objects.

Ortaköy Mosque
Ortaköy Mosque, officially the Büyük Mecidiye Camii (Grand Imperial Mosque of Sultan Abdülmecid), built in 1856, it is situated at the waterside of the Ortaköy pier square, one of the most popular locations on the Bosphorus.

Rumelian Castle
Rumelian Castle is a fortress located on a hill at the European side of the Bosphorus. It gives the name of the quarter around it. It was built by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II between 1451 and 1452, before he conquered Constantinople.

Emirgan Park
It is one of the largest public parks in Istanbul. A special garden was established in Emirgan Park in the 1960s to revive the city’s tradition of tulip cultivation. Since 2005, an annual international tulip festival is organized here every April making the park attractive and very colorful with these flowers.

Guests are free to do whatever they wish to do or where ever they want to go by themselves. Vehicle and guide not in order. If guest want to use vehicle or guide, they should pay extra for these services.

Hotel – Airport transfer by private minivan.